Of rulers and rivals
by Kurai Tora
Summary: Kamek hadn't expected this from his experimenting, not at all! Two kings and their rivals are now faced with a strange turn of events, having to get used to the new circumstances. A certain Magikoopa only prays to not die roasted.
1. Chapter 1

In the enormous and imposing castle was a pair of godarnedly bored rulers, both finding naught but utter disdain for their usual schemes. "King Boo, weren't you going to borrow some of my Dry-bones? Something about adding ambiance to your mansions..." Bowser and King Boo were seated at the long table, a selection of meats and beverages was spread between them to enjoy as they talked.

The huge mass of ectoplasm threw a piece of beef down past its gleaming set of chompers, letting out a sigh. "I should say the same, King Koopa. I noticed that all the Boos I lent you were returned to their previous haunts." The Koopa rubbed his brow, feeling a knit that wasn't fading, groaning in distaste. Time and time again that they planned something, there would be something to foil them, the plumber pair.

"Grawr... And there was my fiasco wedding..." Bowser slammed his fist on the table, rattling the cutlery and spilling some of the food. He felt humiliated then, and the worse part was that he actually felt sympathetic with his rival, Mario. "You know what, King Boo?" The Koopa was puffing fire and flexing his claws. "No more! No more running after that princess and getting my arse kicked by that midget!"

King Boo watched his ally get worked up with anger and frustration, having felt similarly since the last time he got sucked into a vacuum on steroids. "Yeah... But it surprised me that the princess never even considered that human as a suitor." Having knowledge on royal behavior, the ghostly ruler thought that Mario could be an attractive candidate to the human kingdoms. "Whatever. I'm not touching anything outside from my mansions and my minions."

The rulers griped about their past defeats, sharing the sentiment of annoyance at the brothers from the Mushroom Kingdom until they heard the pitter-patter of someone rushing to them. "Papa, papa!" The large Koopa looked back, seeing his little and peppy heir dash up to the table while holding a drawing, climbing on his father's lap before noticing the guest. "Oh, hello Uncle King Boo!" The apparition grinned at the cheery scamp, the kid reminded him of the younger Boos.

"Let me see what you got there." Bowser picked the paper, his fellow king peeking from behind. It was a drawing of father and son in the Clown Car, with volcanos and mountains as background. "Gahaha! My son is a great artist!" Bowser messed with Junior's mop, getting laughs from the kid. "Hey-a kiddo, may I request you for artwork? My mansion needs some new masterpieces." King Boo chimed in, making Junior puff out his chest with pride.

By now, the rulers had ditched their gripes, sharing lighthearted tales of silly or strange things their subordinates did. "You had to be there to believe it! One of my Boos had seen a lost Dry-Bones and decided to make an experiment." This specific Boo was once a Koopa, like the shambling skeleton, so it figured things would go well. Somehow, the two creatures had merged, giving 'flesh' to the skeleton, even if it was as transparent as any other Boo.

"I now think that it was a true chance encounter, they must have come from the same body, that's why he's the only one of his kind." Bowser was thoughtful, it made sense. "But how is that guy faring?" King Boo tried to recall the gossip from his minions. "The last I heard of him... It seems that he got into attempting to merge more Boos to Dry-Bones, dubbing his kind as Lich, but he hasn't succeeded until where I know."

* * *

In one of the research labs, Kamek was testing the newest bounty snatched by his gophers, a strange kind of mushroom that was nabbed from an area full of Toads. He was attempting to analyze the magic infusing this power-up, knowing that the other kingdom would use it against his own. The old turtle poked and prodded at the crown, trying to check the magic infusing it. "I feel nothing... but this is definitively a new item..."

"Mmm... Let's check for reactions..." Kamek pulled some vials of reagents that he usually used on Super Mushrooms and Fire Flowers, thinking that he might get to craft a new power-up potion. "Hum~ dum~" Sadly, the crown mushroom didn't react to the chemicals used, the products simply ran off into puddles. "Aw! Come on!" By now, the sorcerer was getting frustrated, his patience running short. "All the other items told me their secrets!"

It was not time to use sacri- test subjects, his king would fry him alive if he got caught wasting resources and troops. "If you're not handing out your secrets for good, then I'll do it by force!" Kamek pulled out his wand and sent a burst of magic at the crown, hoping to make the magic inside reveal itself. "... Did I do it?" He waited for the smoke to fade.

Nothing, zilch, zippo, nada. The crown was untouched, prim and pristine as if the turtle hadn't fired a bolt of energy at it. "Why you little-!" *Crick-!* "Uh... I have a bad feeling about this..." The old Magikoopa was sweating Bullet Bills as the item he had been tampering with began glowing and cracked, turning tail and ducking behind magical shields before it exploded.

There was an enormous detonation that wrecked the ceiling, going floor to floor upwards until it made a hole on the roof, letting a pink and golden mushroom cloud sprout from the new sun-roof. Kamek sweated King Bills, recalling that while most of the floors the explosion affected were currently empty and out of order, the royal dining room where his boss and guest were in was also in the wreck path.

He looked up at the hole... yep, it was large enough to make one see that the dining room was FUBAR. "My liege!" Kamek didn't look his age as he dashed up to the dining room to confirm his bad feeling. _"Please, don't come true!"_ Sure as rain, there was no hide nor fang from his king, neither glare or cackle from King Boo. "This is a disaster! I must find them!" He rushed out to get the Koopalings. "Emergency meeting!"

* * *

Mario and Luigi were walking on a hill close to the Koopa Kingdom, looking at the mountain range where the castle stood. "You-a know, since the disaster wedding, Bowser seems to have-a totally lost his interest on-a the Mushroom Kingdom." The red plumber felt a bit bored, those kidnappings had given him a routine to follow. Besides, things were awkward with Princess Peach.

The green plumber nodded in agreement, as he was going through a similar situation. "Those mansions full-a of Boos may be scary... but I came to-a enjoy battling them..." For some mysterious reason, the entire Boo population under a certain king only chased people to scare in the last day of each month, keeping their actions to just shrieking and stalking, despite Professor E. Gadd telling Luigi that their king managed to escape the Vault.

What was King Boo planning? Luigi had even seen an article in the newspaper that told of a Boo raid on a shop for magical jewelry, knowing for a fact that it was where he sold King Boo's crown, the one claimed from Evershade Valley. "Mamma mia, I do hope that-a disaster isn't brewing anytime soon." Unlike his brother, Luigi wanted a longer break, his heart needed it.

The brothers began chatting about how they honestly missed the adrenaline that pumped them during the quests created by their rivals. "I'm-a this close to just kicking down the gates to that-a castle and asking Bowser for a good fight." Luigi nudged Mario on the shoulder, both laughing at the idea. "You sound like-a those couples in long distance relationships." Luigi instantly knew it was a bad idea.

The shorter one had a stony expression and pulled the ear of the taller one. "Says-a the one who managed to get-a maniac after himself. King Boo seems-a to be really fixated on you." The brothers kept ribbing at each other until they saw a mushroom cloud rise from the Koopa Castle's general area, there was a purple flash in the middle of the pink. What did Bowser or one of his minions do this time? "Want-a to check it?"

* * *

 **I'm hitching a ride on the Bowsette bandwagon, despite being late to the call~  
**


	2. Chapter 2

The cutlery shaking was the one cue the occupants of the dining room had for the impending disaster. They could hear things breaking instants before a potent force sent them upwards, knocking out the duo of father and son. King Boo, being a ghost, was only carried along by the detonation, but he knew that he had to act fast. _"Who could have done this? And why?"_ There was a strange power infusing the blast.

King Boo had managed to create a Paranormal Portal in the nick of time, sparing the Koopa Capital from being pelted by rubble and saving his fellow victims from a brutal landing. _"This magic is strange..."_ The Boo felt it melding with his own energy and changing his body. _"What's going on?!"_ The effects made the specter think of power-ups, but he knew not of one that could trigger these reactions.

Being a ghost enabled him to sense the gradual shift, and it was distressing. Besides, he felt oddly lethargic despite being an undead. "Gh... grhh... stay... awake..." Thankfully he and the others were now floating within the ghost dimension, which would give them time to assess the changes. Bowser briefly crossed his sight, still holding Junior protectively while unconscious.

* * *

Two men clad in overalls and color-coded ran from the hill where they saw the explosion towards their hometown, only to be stopped by a Toad, who said that the princess wanted to see them. _(WHY-a now!?)_ Mario was pursing his lips into a stiff smile and was mumbling under his breath, secretly wanting to simply ignore the call. _(Calm-a down bro, no fighting.)_ Luigi placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, hoping the pressure would ground his mindset.

Princess Peach smiled brightly at the sight of the heroes of Mushroom Kingdom. "I'm glad you came." Mario and Luigi nodded, bowing slightly for etiquette. "It's-a honor to meet you, no matter the situation." The blonde let out a giggle. "The reason I called for you is to give a notice. I want to host a sports meet, including some people." The twins knew what it meant, Bowser would get an invite.

 _(Should-a we tell her?)_ Luigi was starting to worry, considering what had happened not long ago. _(No need to make-a her worry, we'll deal with this nicely.)_ Mario held a confident face. "Thanks for telling-a us, we wish you a-good luck with the preparatives." The princess nodded and waved, signaling they were free to go. "I'm sure that things will run smoothly. See you both soon."

Mario and Luigi had passed by their house to pick Koopa shells and masks, not wishing to bring entire troops on themselves. "What do you think that is-a happening?" The green plumber was stuffing his disguise in a backpack while facing his brother. "I do hope that it's not-a foreshadow to some terrible scheme." The man shuddered at the thought, the twins might get involved in something out of their control.

The red plumber was thoughtful, not having seen something similar in the past, it was new territory for him. "I haven't-a got the foggiest idea, but we'll find-a out." The plumber twins set off to the Koopa Kingdom, hoping that Peach or some other allied kingdom wouldn't suddenly need their heroic services. "Let's start thinking of a way to infiltrate the castle, this time we're playing spies!"

* * *

Kamek had rushedly sent for a messenger to get the Koopalings, calling for a meeting in his private tower. _"Gods above, don't let this escalate into a full-blown disaster... please."_ The mage had clasped his hands and mumbled prayers in rapid succession. "Sir." A Troopa had knocked on his door, informing him that the group was on their way here. "Very good, dismissed." But once the door closed behind the last Koopaling, the turtle noticed a problem.

Kamek tilted his head. "One... two... three... four... ... Oh... dearie me..." The Koopalings were three members short, even Junior was missing. "Larry was using one of those rooms to practice his magic." Ludwig had kept track of his group until moments ago. "Roy was doing one of his music jams with some Boos in another of the rooms." Each statement only made the Magikoopa sweat harder, until he became a turtle waterfall. "Morton was chasing a Chain Chomp in that general area."

By now the elder was letting out a silent wail. "And Junior went to the dining hall." This made Kamek feel an ulcer, aneurysm, stroke, what-have-you overcome him, as the weight of his stupidity crashed fully on him. The Koopalings stared at the Magikoopa, having already figured from his reactions that he was the culprit for the explosion. "What did you do?" Ludwig was now worrying for the Bowsers and the other Koopalings. "Erm... You see..."

* * *

There was a figure among several propped on the floating pieces of Bowser's castle, being the first one to awaken. "Hah... How long has it been... I haven't fainted since my death..." Long hair was moved away from the eyes by delicate fingers. "Wait a minute..." The woman ceased moving completely as the situation dawned upon her. "I'm a MALE BOO! Not a female human!"

King Boo stared at his new form in a conjured mirror, pulling at his new skin in disbelief. "What the fucking Underwhere was that power-up!?" He was currently with the appearance of a completely ectoplasm-white human female, only his purple eyes, mouth, and crown were unchanged. Many theories rushed by his mind, stressing the ghost and making the rubbles floating around go wild until the Boo took a few calming breaths. "Okay, fine, fine, I'm cool, I'm fine..."

King Boo rubbed his face while thinking of the clothing he would materialize, only to recall that he wasn't the only victim. "Great... Just friggin' great." He rounded up the other people that came with him on one of the larger floor pieces, making clothing for them as well. He could have been a Boo for decades, but he knew human decency rules. Until they woke up, King Boo would think of a new name for himself. "Mu... there was a name for my Boos used in other lands..."

 **"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!"** But King Boo had his moment of concentration broken by the thunderous roar and the titanic gout of fire in the distance. _"He woke up too..."_ The ghost floated towards the Koopa, taking note of the similar changes Bowser had undergone. "Let's go with the priorities first." The Boo materialized a simple robe for himself and a set of shirt and shorts for Bowser.

The Koopa stared at the items plopped on his hands. "Why did you give me these? Koopas don't wear clothes, Magikoopas do." Bowser had a pout and was about to blow some fire to get rid of the clothes, only to have King Boo face him very closely with a snarl. "Put these on for Grambi's sake! Or at least for mine!" Bowser was about to refuse, so the ghost temporarily reverted to his previous form through unbridled anger. "Put them on." The Koopa had a flat gaze. "... 'Kay."


	3. Chapter 3

Once Bowser got dressed, King Boo deflated into his new appearance, mentally recording this event for future experimenting. "From what I can gather, all of us who got hit by the explosion got affected by some power-up magic." The Koopa king was still unhappy at having to wear clothes, not used to it, but King Boo had actually intimidated him a little, so the former turtle didn't want to set the ghost off again.

Bowser retained his height and most of his Koopa features, like the tail and shell. He now had the appearance of a horned buff female with tan skin and red hair, still sporting his deadly fangs and fiery eyes. "When I get back, I'll make Kamek fix this." He checked his new appearance with King Boo's mirror until he recalled something. "Wait, where's Junior?" The ghost pointed behind Bowser, at a pile of bodies.

Besides Junior and three Koopalings, there was also one regular and one Mad Boo, and a pitiful young Chain Chomp that was whimpering in its sleep. Bowser sighed with relief that his children were apparently unharmed. "Let me go to my castle. My subordinates might be going stir-crazy by now." He flexed his muscles, trying to get a feel and familiarize himself with this new shape. "I do miss my scales."

Then he faced King Boo. "How did you revert?" Even if it was a temporary transformation, it would serve as intimidation. "Try getting angry enough." Bowser huffed, closing his eyes tight in concentration. "Grr..." He could feel the magic within reacting, it was like sparking dried hay into a fire. "RAWR!" His arms got covered by scales and his claws grew back. "Hm... this is good to know about." Now that Bowser wasn't trying to force them out, the scales retracted, leaving human skin behind.

"Where should we go?" The Koopa requested that the portal was placed in the throne hall, that's where they would most certainly meet at least one important figure from the kingdom. The redhead looked at the ones still passed out. "But what about them?" King Boo assured Bowser that the young ones would be safe within the dimension, opening a portal back to the real world and beckoning the Koopa. "We both want answers, let's go."

* * *

Mario and Luigi had rushed to the Koopa Kingdom while staying away from the well-used roads, desiring to avoid getting either hostile Koopa's or friendly Toad's attention. By going all out and taking shortcuts, the brothers soon found themselves gazing at the walls of Koopa Castle in the distance, still with a hole leaking some pink smoke. "Let's-a put the disguises on."

The plumbers now looked like Koopa Troopas, and as long anyone didn't try looking closely, they would go unnoticed and be passed by as another turtle. "If memory serves a-right, there's a smaller entry for workers." They sneaked in, seeing the hubbub of the citizens as the soldiers marched out, led by some Koopalings. "Things might-a be more serious than I thought..."

Acting as if they belonged in, the plumbers infiltrated the castle and picked janitorial supplies, advancing slowly towards the throne hall while simulating that they were doing their job when a patrol ran by. _(They are all saying-a that Bowser and King Boo went-a missing, along with some others...)_ Mario frowned under the mask while Luigi shuddered at the idea of facing the culprit.

They entered the throne hall unnoticed, seeing Ludwig pacing before the elevated centerpiece, clearly having taken the lead while Bowser was MIA. Kamek was a little to the side and sporting a nice bump, still performing kowtows to apologize for his mistake and folly. _(Let's hide behind-a that pillar.)_ The twins heard the Magikoopa wail about how experimenting on the mushroom crown was a mistake while the Koopaling still mulled in thoughts.

When Kamek described the crown again for Ludwig, the plumbers had their eyes widened in alarm. _(Er, bro...)_ Mario already knew what Luigi was about to ask, having heard about it as well. _(It does sound-a like that power-up Toadette was gushing about...)_ They couldn't even fathom how the victims of the explosion would fare under the uncontrolled effects of the wild magic of a detonated power-up.

Then Luigi saw something he'd rather not, a portal that linked this world to the ghost dimension, so he began sweating in his shell. King Boo surely had a grudge against him, so he prayed to all the gods and forces he knew about to keep him and his brother safe. Mario kept watching the gate with a determined face, wanting to know what was going on. Both almost had their eyes pop off when Bowser and King Boo came out.

* * *

Ludwig and Kamek got a little start when a Paranormal Portal suddenly popped up in the middle of the hall. "King Boo?" Two female humans stepped out, getting weirded looks from the turtles. "Who are you two?" The Koopaling was apprehensive, they looked too much like a certain pair of kings, but he couldn't shake off the usual paranoia, as the current situation of his kingdom was delicate.

The redhead spat a plume of fire, annoyed at the fact he would have to reintroduce himself to his kingdom due to his new appearance. "Can't you recognize your Pops? Hmp... That's understandable." Bowser turned his sights to Kamek. "M-me-my liege..." The Magikoopa was trembling in his robes under the ruby and amethyst glares. "Forgive this lowly servant! It's all my fault! I'll do my utmost best to fix this!" The mage ran to his lab to start the research right away.

The confession mollified them and Ludwig managed to feel the familiar magical presence that only Bowser exuded. "Pops, where are the others?" He still worried about Junior and the Koopalings, but King Boo reassured him by stating that no harm could befall them as long they stayed put in the ghost dimension. "That is a relief... I'll inform the kingdom that the search is to be called off, so if I may, I'll be going."

Soon the rulers found themselves alone in the throne hall, Bowser was about to sit down when he saw King Boo's strange smirk. _(Can't you sense it, old pal?)_ At this, the Koopa took a few sniffs, picking out scents he came to know well, a predatorial grin revealed sharp teeth. _(Oh, how interesting!)_ They stared at a pillar, rearing up to ambush their prey, the rivals that handed themselves in a silver platter. _(Ready?)_ Their eyes and fangs glinted under the light.

* * *

 _(Brother, I think they are looking at-a us!)_

 _(Don't be-a silly, we're hidden by the furniture!)  
_

* * *

 **Let's say that I'm implementing the original appearance of the transformed ones as a 'super mode', they will be using the Hulk-out method for now.**


	4. Chapter 4

Luigi could feel the stares that were piercing him and his brother, it was like having several Boos about to jump you when one had their eyes turned away. _(Bro, we should-a get out!)_ But Mario, ever the brave soul, wanted to check if they could find out more information if they stayed. _(Let's wait a little longer, we might-a get to hear something important.)_ Kamek had leaked information, who knew what they could learn from staying a few minutes.

The green Koopa saw how the pale female had looked directly at them for a moment, sporting a sinister smile. _(I have a bad feeling, we should-a run right now!)_ They could see the pair of women with non-human traits chatting in hushed voices, getting alarmed when the redhead sniffed the air and stared blatantly at them with a chilling smirk. _(Let's -a scram!)_ Now Mario gave credit to his brother's worries, both turning to the nearest exit in an attempt to escape.

Bowser and King Boo pounced on the pair of mock Koopas who were scrambling for the double-doors, ripping them off their masks and making the shells clatter on the tiles. "Yo there, mustachioed marauders~ Did you really think we wouldn't notice? You must have been fed dunce dumplings~" The ghost had Luigi by one leg, leaving him upside-down and flailing like a Cheep Cheep. The black scleras and eerie purple eyes made the poor man remember the matches against the ghost leader.

Bowser kept Mario by his suspenders, grinning like the Kremling who got the monkey. Both females dwarfed the plumber brothers, being around 7' or 8' (2,30 m), and neither was willing to let their catch go. "May we know why you strolled in MY castle?" Bowser pinched Mario's face with his free hand, getting sadistic enjoyment from the groans of displeasure. "I didn't kidnap your precious princess, and there was no sanctioned attack ordered against your Mushroom Kingdom..."

Mario struggled for a few moments before seeing that it was futile unless he wished to escape pantsless. "We saw the castle a-exploding, so we decided to see what-a caused it." Bowser raised a brow with skepticism, making the plumber go limp with defeat. "It's-a the truth." The kings shared looks that made the twins fear for their future. Then the women let out huffs and dropped the men unceremoniously. "Woah-!"

"I'll give you both this vote of faith. But only if you don't blab anything to your homeland." The Segale brothers fell to their bum and face in front of the two rulers. Bowser knew that his appearance change could be seen as a weakness, even if he remained as strong and fierce as before, so he intended to train to change back to his original form at will. "Okay. But Princess Peach is-a going to invite you to a new sporting meet." The Koopa let out a puff of fire and messed with his hair, irked at the idea. "Knowing her, she won't accept a 'no'."

King Boo had a sudden idea when he heard about the event, his face twisted in a smirk that made Luigi scoot back as much he could. "Mwahaha! Hey pal, we got the solution for our conundrum!" Bowser and the plumbers held quizzical looks. "You see, my friend, we could use this chance to amuse ourselves. I mean, this new appearance of ours is sure going to shock people." The green brother let out a cry of surprise when the Boo suddenly appeared in his personal space. "Weegee, you better tell that princess of yours to open a slot for me!"

Mario began sweating buckets, Bowser's smirk spelled ill things for the future. "You're right, King Boo. Hey, midget." He got grabbed by his suspenders again, getting to face Bowser. "I'll go. But not as Bowser. You better be ready, okay?" With this, the two kings decided that the chat was over, with King Boo opening a way straight into the Mushroom Kingdom. "So long, Mario!" The brothers got punted out from the castle through the portals and got clocked on the head by their shells.

* * *

Junior felt something in the middle of the sleep fog, it was pricking at his senses for some reason. It seemed like that there were people tugging at his legs and head at the same time. "LET GO OF HIM! STUPID CHAMP!" Strange, it sounded like Morton, but with a more feminine pitch. "GRWOO! OPEN YOUR MOUTH!" Now it was Roy who was screaming, his voice was changed in the same way, but why? "Haha! It's amazing that he didn't wake up yet!" Was that Larry?

The eyes of the young Koopa flew open, facing into someone's gullet. "WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Morton and Roy were still struggling with whoever was biting his face, so Larry was the one to come to the rescue. "Champ's trying to eat your face." That was a really bad situation, so Junior joined the efforts to pry off the Chain Chomp off himself. "Stop biting him! Champ!" Morton had been trying to train his pet Chomp, but it was as attentive as a rock and as obedient as a sack of bricks.

*A few minutes of struggling with a stubborn Chain Chomp*

Junior was holding his face, the teeth marks smarted and let out pangs of pain if he made a facial movement. Morton held his pet at arm's length, keeping a grip on its head so it couldn't snap at people. "Gwoon..." Now that there wasn't a crisis to address, everybody noticed that they had human appearances and were currently in King Boo's realm. "We can only wait for Uncle Boo to come and get us." The Boos who had been with Roy had already gone out by their own power, surely up to mischief.

The Koopas tugged at the shirt and shorts covering them, being as weirded out as Bowser at the idea of wearing clothes. Champ had chainmail shaped like a shirt and skirt for the sake of staying whole under its animal instincts. "It feels weird, and why did we turn into girls?" Morton echoed the thoughts of his father. Larry was the only one uncaring of the current situation, playing around with magic and the rubble still floating around, his blue hair trailing behind as he jumped and frolicked.

After a while, King Boo opened a portal, enabling the Koopas and the one Chain Chomp to return to the castle. "Are you feeling well? You aren't feeling pain, right?" Bowser acted like a mama hen, worrying over Junior's bite mark. "Kamek is already checking for a way to revert this change, so don't worry." The turtle king turned to the Koopalings and checked for injuries, shooting Champ a killer glare that made it whimper. Once he was satisfied, he took Junior and the Koopalings in a bear hug. "I'm so relieved you are all safe."

* * *

 **Who knows what the kings will pull during the sports meet? Next chapter will be a description sheet for my and your convenience.**


End file.
